The invention relates to go-cart type vehicles useful for recreation, public entertainment, and in promotions of full size vehicles wherein a body style selected by the buyer is mounted on the cart. Such vehicles are normally driven on private roadways where ordinary vehicle traffic is not encountered, on parade routes, in private enclosures and, in some forms of the vehicle, on race tracks, usually dirt, which are specially constructed for and dedicated to go-cart racing.
There is a substantial demand for go-cart racing style vehicles even in the more subdued utility of the showroom, the parade ground and the private track. The racing image is preferred by many go-cart purchasers, both adult and juvenile. This vehicle image includes a live axle, two wheel rear drive which is inexpensive to provide but which poses a problem in the setting in which the non-racing go-carts are used. A live axle has no differential. The two back wheels, which are both driving wheels, tend to drive the vehicles straight ahead even though the front wheels are sharply turned, especially at low turning speeds in this environment of 20 m.p.h. and less. The result is that the cart scuffs the front wheels and resists turning in other than an extremely wide arc which is unacceptable in restricted interior spaces, private roadways and parade routes. Racing go-carts, by contrast, are longer wheel base (e.g., 42 to 45 inches), flexible, and are ordinarily raced on a dirt track or equivalent, and the absence of a differential gear is overcome by executing a controlled skid at speeds of 30-40 m.p.h. around the curves in the track. This action is the very thing that, among others, creates the desirable image of the racing go-cart but which is impossible to duplicate in the more ordinary uses described above. There is ample incentive to provide the live axle racing style of go-cart if this problem can be overcome because the desired image may be provided while saving the considerable cost of installing differential gear means.
Accordingly, there is a need for a go-cart type vehicle with a live axle that will turn sharp corners.
A second problem associated with go-carts made for the recreational, promotional and exhibition markets is that the purchasers and users are for the most part adults of varying sizes and builds. Go-carts are very small vehicles whose wheel bases are, customarily, on the order of 42 to 45 inches. This particular problem has been addressed on many occasions by providing tilt up steering wheels that can be adjusted to better fit the size of the driver. Although a number of solutions have been proposed, a need exists for an improvement in the tilt wheel steering wheel apparatus of a go-cart.
A third problem encountered in the prior art is the complexity and expense of the wheels for go-carts. Prior art wheels are the hub and associated rim which is either two halves bolted together after the tire, usually pneumatic, is installed, or a hub having a drop center rim similar to the rims of full size vehicles which permits the removal of the tire with a tire iron. There are problems associated with the bolt type. Vibration tends to loosen the bolts and the parts tend to creep out of alignment. The drop center type, on the other hand, is expensive to manufacture. A need exists for a more dependable, less expensive wheel structure for go-cart use.